The Ministry has received results from ESR from the wastewater samples collected from the Wellington region.

These new samples were collected from Moa Point, Porirua, Hutt Valley and Karori following two earlier samples from Moa Point returning weak positive results.

The further samples tested from Moa Point and Hutt Valley did not detect any virus fragments across 15, 16 and 17 May.

Weak positive results have been detected in the samples from Porirua and Karori on 16 May. The samples from Porirua and Karori on 15 and 17 May returned negative results – so COVID-19 virus fragments were not detected on those days.

Additional samples were collected on Tuesday 18 May and the Ministry expects to be able to provide an update on the results from those tests on Thursday 20 May.

There is no risk of infection from COVID-19 in wastewater.

The Ministry’s current assessment remains that the weak positive results are likely due to recently recovered cases continuing to shed the virus.

However, this is a timely reminder to anyone with symptoms consistent with COVID-19, especially if they are in the Wellington region or have visited recently, to stay at home and promptly call Healthline (0800 358 5453) about getting a test.

Any cases of COVID-19 need to be detected quickly in order to stop the virus spreading in our communities.

Everyone in New Zealand should also continue to use the NZ COVID Tracer app with Bluetooth turned on to keep a record of their movements so they can be recalled quickly if needed by contact tracers.

Also please keep up the hygiene measures that are critical to stopping the spread of the virus – wear a face covering on public transport, wash your hands, and cough or sneeze into your elbow.

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